JimM

And the winner of the 20 yards sprint with chainsaw is..... Nasty bugger that.

Had to drop it between the posts to do minimum damage to the Beech and to the Limes on the other side of the driveway. A rotten stinking mess inside. Cut high in the hope of some sound wood to give me a hinge. It only had days left I reckon.

I understand the advice problem on your last post Gardenkit. No getting around that really unless you have a naked women doing the selling perhaps. Grin. Not sure if you did the right thing pushing him away on the warranty work as maybe with the service you provide you may get future purchases out of him, or at least local recommendations. Not an easy choice.

Do the dealers get a fixed hourly rate for carrying out warranty work? If the dealers can't get the spares they need quickly then it's the manufacturers that are letting them down. Too often with small fixes it's faster via the net. The supply chain to dealers has to be better. That lets the smaller dealers hold less expensive stock and keeps their overheads down surely? On the dealers side, I wonder how many aggressively target their local professional market? Not too hard to put out a letter to all the local businesses they could support, get them in to talk. Offer accounts that lead to discounts that are attractive enough to both parties. Store the small parts that these businesses need/break most. Know what kit they all use. Be able to get the rest fast from the manufacturer. If the manufacturer is letting you down then you need to complain to them. Being a dealer for them is a two-way street, not a one-way in their favour. One local dealer bemoaned the lack of professional guys coming in. He opens the book and quotes RRP. The other offered me an account with discounts on tools and parts. But the latter suffers from poor backup from the major manufacturer.

I'm using the 91vxl on my 540 and finding it excellent. No issues in the load of dead hard elm I've had to do. Not tried the Stihl chain though.

Ran mine with Aspen out the box. Starts after one cough on choke, or fires first go and a quick flip off choke and it keeps running. All the new saws seem to cool quickly, but getting used to starting on choke after I've repositioned. Much happier with it than the 201, although my mates one is running ok.

Aviva through Arborisk. Part of an overall package of EL, PL, personal and hired in plant.

Had to bend it like Beckam today. In 50mph gusts! 60ft Lime with massive decay at the base. Leaning and with a bend that curved it above the Beech nearby and would scrape the Limes on the other side of the driveway. So, don't wreck the fence posts or the fence on the other side of the driveway, don't destroy the Beech and limit the damage to the other Limes. The wind was opening and closing the vertical split at the back of the tree while I was cutting. Reckon it would only have lasted another few days before it burst by itself. The Beech was unscathed and only minor pruning repairs to 2 of the Limes. Happy customers.

Really happy with my 540 and had one since last September. It's rarely hanging on the strop, usually on the saw hook, so no signs of stretching AV springs. Great power and starting. Feels like a mini 550 in the cut. Did wreck it last week so immediately bought another.

No Roni. I explained I'd already written to Husky and they were passing the fault on to Sweden.

Tried it with a brand new saw today. Could replicate it straight away. Local Husky dealer gob smacked.

Tilt the saw towards you slightly with the battery facing you. Press the forward catch a few times and, if it's like mine, at one point the catch will not re-engage properly. Then with the saw tilted further over press or bump the other catch. The battery will fall out.

Not sure if this is a daft idea, but can you hire someone for a few days to watch and photograph these bandits that watch you, their vehicle and where they go? A private detective perhaps? I don't know how expensive that would be, but at least you would have something to hand the Police. I guess even a mate who could come out to a few jobs and take a decent camera with him. Maybe if they know they're being watched in return they might back off.

I watched some of the X-rings vids last year and was impressed with how they worked. I'd quite like a shot of them too if they came over the pond.

That's just sheer spite. Can you replicate the catches coming partially unlocked Roni? I was thinking today of taking a video of how it happens. I would imagine Husky UK are worried over an expensive product recall. Blind loyalty coming before the safety of operators on the UK's part perhaps? or will we see Husky following the lead of Petzl and the Zigzag Mk1? I've not heard anything from HSE after my RIDDOR report. Have you?

Replacement FOC battery came in the post today. Still using the T536 up the tree, but with tie-wraps to back up the battery's securing mechanism. TBH I don't think the saw as it stands is fit for purpose up the tree, which is a shame as its a great piece of kit. I haven't heard anything further from Husky though.

I've used Autan all over the World, from the Caribbean to Iraq. Not as nasty as Deet. I've found the speedstick version works really well. Never been bitten using it.

Yeh. It was a big chunk of stem. Working from a MEWP about 40ft up. Stropped to me, me stropped to the basket. The piece went over and the saw went to the length of the strop, pulled me to the edge of the basket and the saw tip then came free from the chunk. I biffed it, but walked away in one piece. Getting another straight away as it's a fab saw.

Rather disappointed with the AV spring on my 540. Thought it might have coped better.

Hung up broken Lime. So rotten we used a MEWP, plus a shutdown. Then the MEWP died before we could get going. Wasted day yesterday, so it was all re-organised for today. Then the MEWP played up again today, and I managed to damage the damping spring on my T540XP. Tomorrow I shall mostly be paying for a new one

You've prob not had a reply because there are threads galore on boots. Use the Search function and be prepared for lots of reading. :-)

Two years in Protector Pros and very happy spiking in them. Just coming to the end of their life now. Still waterproof, but I do look after them. Avoid the Cofra boots for spiking though. The sole isn't rigid enough. Lovely for normal climbing as they are very flexible. Just not that waterproof either.

Larch topped out at Aberlour. Looking across the valley to the Macallan distillery.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Fisheries_Protection_Agency Have a look here to see who is responsible for the waters around Scotland. The SPFA boats patrol Scottish waters, whereas in the other sectors around the UK they are patrolled by River class patrol boats. This has been the case for many years. Above this the RN are obviously responsible for sea defence around the UK.

Tip the trailer up about 20 degrees and aim for the base at the top end. Cuts down the spray a lot. Just some very fine bits after that. I take it you've boarded yours out?